Malcolm Tucker

This means he spends his time bursting in on ministers, seemingly out of nowhere ("I'm a shape-shifter") to shove their self-esteem through a shredder. He also terrorises journalists. Sometimes, just sometimes, he punches old men in the face. But let's not be unfair. He may be a walking vortex of hate, but Mr Tucker is also a tactical genius who protects the government using dark magic and swearing. Some seriously top swearing.

Played by Peter Capaldi

Sure, The Thick Of It's made him an icon and everything, but Peter Capaldi wasn't just conjured into being by Armando Iannucci. He'd already been there and done everything, showbiz-wise. In fact, he'd already won an OSCAR long before Malcolm Tucker was an evil gleam in a writer's eye. It's true: Capaldi bagged a statuette in 1995 for his short film, Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life. He also once played Dawn French's love interest in The Vicar of Dibley, but don't think about that. Think about Tucker shouting at someone instead. That's better.